"Turn on"

[Wilson Gray]

On Oct 10, 2004, at 11:08 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Turn on"
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> Never heard of "turn back."

I'm not surprised.

>   Pei's comments on American slang are often unreliable.
>
> JL

Alas! Poor Mario! He just don't get no respect. Everybody puts him
down. (Long story not worth the telling.)

-Wilson Gray

>
> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: "Turn on"
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>
> Just a couple of observations that may or may not be of any interest
> and, in any case, may be old news.
>
> When the term, "turn on," became hip in St. Louis in the '50's, the
> negative had the form, "turn back," and not "turn off," which
> continued to mean "turn off."
>
> Mario Pei, either in The Story of Language (1965) or in The Story of
> the English Language (1967), states that "turn (someone) on" had, among
> other meanings, the meaning, "light a cigarette (for someone)."
>
> "Do you turn on?" is a way of inviting someone to join in smoking a
> joint.
>
> -Wilson Gray
>
>
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